It didn't help matters that the temps were close to 80°f & about 90% of the ride was under the blazing sun.
Pint-to-Pint III was a major success - 97 people were counted exiting Ironworks at noon-ish!!
Getting hydrated pre-ride.
Trouble, with a capital 'T'
I'd guess about 15 of those were support & not riding, so we still packed the trails with about 80 riders on a perfect Saturday afternoon in early November on trails just outside city limits. The posse rolled to Green Mt & headed up to the top, via Hayden trail. However, the 1st group must have thought this was road ride as they stayed on the GM service road instead of taking the 'official' route, which was single-track, seeing that this was an MTB event.
Greg & I stop a bit before Hayden turnoff (which about 25 riders missed)
It was a nice hot grind up to the top - which is where we again saw those in front of us turning left on the service road instead of hanging a right to get on Summit Loop, my favorite little section on that hill. It turned out to be NOT my favorite trail that day, when I felt rock meet rim. I didn't go immediately flat, but felt the squish as we started to descend Rooney Valley trail. 20# in the rear tire felt real nice on RV, but had me on edge afraid of totally flatting, so I stopped at the bottom & topped up the pressure to my normal 60#.
Time to climb. Up Zorro, then a left on DR. After all riders going this way & that atop GM, the group was getting spread out by now. Only able to catch/pass about 4 riders down DR, then topped off my tire again before rolling thru RR/MW. The little grind up around the rocks on RR really put a hurting on me today, I walked over 1/2 of that bitch. Weak sauce! Felt better rolling MW until I came thru the 1 tricky-ish rock section there. The rock itself was no biggie, but the little step up following it took me out. Got the front end over & stood up to power the rear thru when the front tire came to an abrupt halt on another rock, sending me OTB to land firmly on my left cheekbone. Visions of WKD-RDRs incident earlier this summer flashed in my head as I smacked the ground. Luckily had just a tiny bit of swelling, no black eye or bruising.....yet.
Heritage Square parking, yay! Supplies & somewhere to lie flat on my back for a bit & recover before starting my walk of shame up Apex.
Mike refueling.
Lots of folks hung out refueling in the lot, then took off in lots of little groups, so Apex had a few jams on the way up. Somewhere around 1/2-way up is where all but 1 muscle in my legs started to cramp. Nearing the top, I would walk, try to pedal for about 100', start cramping, so I'd get off the bike to stretch, then hobble a bit more......I guess the espresso for b-fast, then beer at the start weren't enough fuel for my large mass. Here's some pix as I laid in a pitiful heap on the side the trail....
Ended up finishing up Apex with Andy & Mark, then I had to rest & stretch again before attempting even the road to get to entrance of CG. I was so relieved to finally get to CG since as spike occasionally says, 'it's all DH from here.' One last bit of rear tire pumping & it was time to coast to the bottom, then pedal along the path to arrive at GCB.
Cold weather showed up so I tore up the garden remains to see what I could salvage. I ended up canning about 12 jars of tomato sauce, 8 jars of salsa, 3 bags of dried tomatoes & 2 bags of frozen jalapeños, as well as eating as much okra, zucchini & yellow squash as I could keep up with.
The crop is unfortunately only unripened tomatoes.
XVelo #002 is hanging tough in the midst of its long-term clydesdale testing. It's been a fun bit of trial & error getting it set up just right, which is helping to give me a good idea of dos/don'ts for when I get my frame built. Despite its little intricacies, I have it pretty dialed in: I can completely attach or detach the fenders in under 5 minutes, or I can pull the rear tire in case of a flat or gear swap quite painlessly as well. The PlanetBike Hardcore fenders are OK, but wondering if I should have gone for the Cascadias, as they go down just below axle level........I'll find out soon enough I'm sure.
Fenders 93% attached (had to fab the 2 rear supports)
Depending on ride distance/difficulty, I have several gears ready to swap in an instant: 16t free(daily gear)/18t free, 18t free/17t fixed, or 18t/20t free/free for the big ones. Steve's Brooks saddle is off after several rides with no satisfaction....guess that model doesn't suit my fat ass. I do want to try another, but unsure of which to go for next. Enjoying the cockpit & brakes set-up lots: Woodchipper bar & Salsa gel tape, Tektro levers & Avid cantis. I had Steve's Paul cantis on at first, which were a PITA to set up, but these Shorty6s are a dream - both to maintain & their efficiency in slowing down my mass.
The frame feels good, but for my size, I need tubes that a touch bigger, as I can flex it a bit if I stand up & hammer. When I do get on it, the bike does go well. I'm still not completely comfortable with the feel that the bent setastays give, but I'm getting there.
Took it out for another spin last week: to GBP for the grand opening, then detoured thru Highlands before heading home. GBP was going on with a bunch of jumpin', hootin' & hollerin'. Great job to all involved!!
It's Nov 5 & it may hit close to 80°f tomorrow in Denver, CO.
Pint-to-Pinters, it's gonna be a hot one! Stay hydrated & hard.........
Let'em know what's up.
Oh yeah, there's word of some big roadie race next August. I'll be out there somewhere between Golden & Denver on the 28th - better find me some XXL speedos right quick.
Lance came to town to announce the CO stage race for next year & then proceeded to do a little spin with a few thousand local yokels, Steve & I being 2 of them. In the evening, I headed down to IC to meet up for an evening ride with BadAndy, guacomole, ko, kedith & besoft. Miraculously skirted the rain all night, but I couldn't negotiate going just a few inches off trail & slammed myself real hard trying to countersteer. Being 1 of those w/out healthcare, I had to diagnose myself - a cracked rib or 2 & some other miscellaneous bumps. Lovely!
The next day, mom flew out for an extended weekend & had a bl'ast! We hit Mt Evans, Pikes Peak and some local sights. She's already wanting to come back & check out more. Now if I can somehow get a Denver mattress to PA, she'll be set. She fell in love with the office bed & is in search of an equal. We went up yonder way during her visit.......
Also saw some old punks back come back for another go. Warlock Pinchers for 2 nights w/Dale Crover on the drums....and for the icing on the cake, Melvins [lite] would play on the Saturday bill. Couldn't pass up this, so I off head to the Gothic, arriving as Buzz & Dale finish their set. Dammit!
Then, to add insult to injury, Warlock Pinchers thanked them for opening for'em at the Lion's Lair on Thursday night, of which I had no idea. Double drats!
WP ended up playing 4 days straight over the w/end, and Melvins [lite] 2x. Still turned out to be a great show despite missing Buzz & Dale.'Itchy-O Marching Band' appeared just before the Pinchers & rocked it! Itchy-O Marching Band from Mixtec Media on Vimeo.
The in-laws arrived the following week, so it was time to be a touron for a bit again. Checked out Royal Gorge, good stuff.
The old-school punk continued as C.O.C. rolled through, back to their best line-up of Woody, Mike & Reed....and they were doing Animosity/Technocracy stuff, plus some new tunes. Good stuff, but lacking the intense, snarling vocals of the original Animosity tour.
Felt like my ribs were getting there, so I twisted Steve's arm for a road pedal w/me over Lookout, so we could bomb down Grapevine & back home thru Morrison. Didn't know road riding could make you hurt, guess that's what 6 weeks off does to the body. I ain't the only that hurt, b/c I found my beloved Peugeot now had a new crack on the left chainstay to match that on the right (repaired 4 yrs ago). R.I.P. (1985-2010)
Steve came to the rescue, XVelo #002 was passed to me to get built up so I could keep rolling. (Merci mille fois!!) It took some tinkering, parts swapping, a few new parts, & various minor mods, but #2 is finally resurrected.
As for MTB, I finally got the Rig back out to the local trail, GM/DR a few times, & was slowly getting back into it, even making it to a T.I.T.S. ride at BC, and feeling pretty good riding! Then, a few days later, I awoke to some horrible back spasms that put me out again for about another week. Damn!! Looks like I'll be heading to beanfeSSt totally out of shape, but not as drunk as last year at least.
Pedaling at beanfeSSt was good.........I'm think I'm finally back on it....fingers crossed.
